§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the occasions, in the last five months, when European directives on smoke, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and lead have been exceeded; where this has taken place; and if the information was released to the public.
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 10 May 1993]: The air quality standards in these directives are set on the basis of compliance with limit values over 12-month periods. The standards for nitrogen dioxide and lead were not breached in 1992. Data for smoke and sulphur dioxide for the period April 1992 to March 1993 are not yet available, but provisional figures indicate that these standards have also not been breached. The public can obtain information about air quality, based on measured concentrations of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, from daily bulletins on the Government's freephone 0800 556677, on CEEFAX page 404, on Teletext page 187 or from certain newspapers.